The Christmas Bouquet

“It hasn’t come up,” she said defensively. “Actually, no one back home knows.”

Shock nearly rendered him speechless. “But your mother works less than an hour away,” he said at last. “She’s been here. Surely she’s wondered about finding my clothes scattered about.”

“The past few months I’ve managed to steer her away from here,” she admitted. “The couple of times she has stopped by, I’ve had enough notice that I’ve had time to tidy up.”

“Meaning exactly what?” he asked, trying to remain calm. “You’ve hidden away all traces of me?”

“Pretty much,” she said, then gave him a defiant look. “It was better that way, Noah. You have to trust me on that. If anyone in my family knew about you and me, they’d be pestering us every minute about our plans for the future. Neither of us needed that kind of aggravation or distraction.”

He resisted the urge to confess that he’d be interested in hearing her response to that question about their future himself, especially now. If he went down that path, they’d only wind up arguing and there was a more pressing issue on the table right now: the baby.

“How have you managed to keep your mother and everyone else so conveniently out of your personal business? I thought they were constitutionally incapable of not meddling.”

“Which is exactly why I haven’t mentioned you,” she reminded him. “It keeps their attention on my work. They think I’m a bit of a boring drone.”

“You’ve deliberately steered all of them away from visiting, too, haven’t you?” he said, realizing how deliberate her actions had been. “How did you pull that off so well? You told me yourself that their drop-in visits were constantly disrupting your study time, yet you couldn’t seem to prevent them from showing up.”

Cait flushed guiltily, then shrugged. “I guess I finally got through to them that my schedule is even more demanding now that I’m doing all these rotations at the hospital. Half the time I’m there, so they’d miss me if they did drop by the apartment. After a few wasted trips up here, they gave up. Instead, I’ve gone home when I can. That seems to satisfy them, that and about a million phone calls a week.”

“But your mom is close by most of the week,” he persisted. “How do you get away with keeping her at arm’s length when it’s no big deal to pop over from her office?”

“Her schedule is just as crazy as mine and this is actually out of her way. She’s always rushing through her day to get home to Trace and my brother. We grab a bite to eat when we can, usually at her desk. If I take the initiative and call frequently, there’s no reason for her to come by.”

“And if she does announce an intention to visit, you ‘tidy up,’” he said, unable to keep an edge of irritation from his voice. He was offended and saw no reason to hide it. “What about your sister, then? You and Carrie talk at least once a week. How have you kept her away? From the way you’ve described her, it seems doubtful to me that she’d take a hint.”

“No, Carrie definitely wouldn’t respond to subtlety,” she agreed. “She’s been out of town a lot, thank goodness. And she’s mostly so self-involved with her own chaotic personal life that she doesn’t ask a lot of questions.”

Noah could see that Cait had been much more circumspect with her family than he’d realized. He understood that she was a private person. He certainly understood her not wanting their colleagues at the hospital to know they were involved, though most did, of course. But keeping her own family in the dark? It defied everything he knew about how important they were to her.

Right now, though, there was no time to delve into her reasoning. This pregnancy news changed everything. It was hardly something she could keep from them, not for long, anyway.

“Cait, how far along are you? Do you have any idea when the baby might be due?”

“I won’t know for sure until I see the doctor,” she said.

“But you must have some idea,” Noah pressed.

“I missed a couple of periods,” she finally admitted, her expression chagrined. “I was stressed out. I didn’t think too much about it. Then I had a couple of bouts of morning sickness this past week and it dawned on me I might be pregnant. I guess I’m not such a great diagnostician, after all, huh?”

He allowed himself a small smile. “More like a woman in denial, I imagine.”

She sighed. “Denial was lovely,” she admitted.

Noah could understand why she might think that, but with reality setting in, there was no more time to waste. “So, you’re about two months along?”

“Something like that. I think the baby’s probably due in December.”

“Sweetheart, I know you’re not exactly overjoyed about this. You need to open up with someone.”

“I just told you,” she said.

“But right now, I suspect you’re thinking of me as the enemy,” he told her. He scrambled for an alternative. If she didn’t want to talk to her mother or Nell O’Brien, then perhaps her sister. Weren’t twins supposed to have an extraordinarily strong bond?

“Couldn’t you talk our situation over with Carrie? Get some family backup before you spill the news to everyone else? Would that help?”

She looked horrified by the thought. “Good heavens, no! If Carrie knew about us or about the baby we’re expecting, every O’Brien in Chesapeake Shores would know by the end of the day. The situation would spin out of control.”

“Are you absolutely sure they don’t already know that something’s up?” he asked. “With us, anyway.”

“Did you not hear what I just said about my stepfather and my grandfather?” she asked impatiently. “If either of them had a clue, you’d be a dead man.”

Noah couldn’t believe she was right about their likely reaction. “Come on, Cait. You’re in your twenties. You’ve been away at school for years now. Surely they can’t believe there’s never been a man in your life.”

She finally smiled, the tension in her shoulders visibly easing. “Well, they knew about Ronnie Jessup in fourth grade,” she told him. “That was after we moved from New York to Chesapeake Shores. He sent me a dozen valentines that year. Grandpa Mick immediately wanted to have a talk with his parents, but Nell stopped him. And my mom managed to keep Trace from following me to my high school prom. I’m pretty sure Grandpa Mick was lurking around somewhere in the shadows, though.”

Noah laughed, then realized she was serious. “They’re that protective?”

“Carrie and I were the first grandchildren. Grandpa Mick might have gone a little overboard. While I can’t imagine building my entire life around dating the way Carrie has, she might have had the right idea. She’s trained them to deal with it. I was the responsible, serious one. I was in love with my books. I probably lulled them into a false sense of complacency thinking I’d never do anything outrageous. This is going to come as a huge shock to them.”

“Oh, boy,” Noah whispered, then regarded her with a renewed sense of determination. “Sweetie, we need to get this over with. Neither of us is on duty this weekend. It’s the perfect time to go to Chesapeake Shores.”

“But I have to study,” she protested.

He met her gaze. “With all of this on your mind, do you actually think you’re going to be able to concentrate?”

“I can always concentrate,” she insisted.

Noah thought that actually might be true, but he shook his head. “Cait, I won’t have your parents or anyone else thinking I’m reckless and irresponsible or that I’ve treated you carelessly. That would be a terrible way to be introduced to any family, but especially to one as protective as yours. I want them to like me or at least to accept me.”

“Noah—” she began.

Since a protest was undoubtedly coming, he cut her off. “I know how much you love and respect your family. If you’re determined to stay here and avoid this, go right ahead, but I’m going to speak to them. They need to know my intentions are honorable, even if we ultimately decide not to get married.”

She looked stricken by his vehemence. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would,” he told her solemnly. “I love you, Cait. More than that, I respect you. I’d like to prove I’m worthy of your family’s respect, too. They need to know that I’ll do whatever it takes to protect and support you and our child.” He lightened his tone. “And if you’re right about your grandfather and stepdad beating me to a pulp, at least I’ll have time to heal before our child gets his or her first look at me.”

She scowled. “That’s not even remotely amusing.” She sat down beside him and wove her fingers through his. “Look, I love you for wanting to stand beside me and face my family, but maybe that’s not the best idea.” She drew in a deep breath, then conceded, “You are right about one thing, though. I should probably go down there this weekend and fill them in on what’s going on, even get some of Nell’s sage advice. The whole family relies on her to put things into perspective.”

Noah frowned, not entirely pleased about her plan. “And then you’ll do what? Come back here and announce your decision to me?”

She winced at his caustic tone. “No, of course not. We’ll decide this together. I promise. Going home will help me to think everything through, though. I’m reeling right now. I need this space, Noah. You know how I am. I ponder things, especially important decisions, and I won’t be able to do that with you watching me every second. Please don’t push to go with me.”

He nodded finally, reluctantly accepting her decision. “As long as you swear you’ll come back and talk it over with me before you do anything crazy.”

She obviously knew what he meant by crazy, because she rested her hand against his cheek, tears in her eyes again.

“There won’t be an abortion, Noah. That much I do know. I swear it.”